Regulatory Information 44
Somehearingdevicesaremoreimmunethanotherstothisinterferencenoise,andphonesalsovary
intheamountofinterferencenoisetheymaygenerate.ANSIstandardC63.19wasdevelopedto
provideastandardizedmeansofmeasuringbothwirelessphoneandhearingdevicestodetermine
usabilityratingcategoriesforboth.
Ratingshavebeendevelopedformobilephonestoassisthearingdeviceusersfindphonesthatmay
becompatiblewiththeirhearingdevice.Notallphoneshavebeenratedforcompatibilitywith
hearingdevices.Phonesthathavebeenratedhavealabellocatedonthebox.YourALCATEL
ONETOUCHRETROhasanM4/T4rating.
Theseratingsarenotguarantees.Resultswillvarydependingontheuser’shearingdeviceand
individualtypeanddegreeofhearingloss.Ifahearingdeviceisparticularlyvulnerableto
interferencenoise;evenaphonewithahigherratingmaystillcauseunacceptablenoiselevelsinthe
hearingdevice.Tryingoutthephonewithyourhearingdeviceisthebestwaytoevaluateitforyour
personalneeds.
M-Rating: PhonesratedM3orM4meetFCCrequirementsforhearingaidcompatibilityandare
likelytogeneratelessinterferencetohearingdevicesthanunratedphones.(M4isthebetter/higher
ofthetworatings.)
T-Ratings: PhonesratedT3orT4meetFCCrequirementsandarelikelytobemoreusablewitha
hearingdevice’stelecoil(“TSwitch”or“TelephoneSwitch”)thanunratedphones.(T4isthe
better/higherofthetworatings.Notethatnotallhearingdeviceshavetelecoilsinthem.)
Note:NewTechnologies.Thisphonehasbeentestedandratedforusewithhearingaidsforsome
ofthewirelesstechnologiesthatituses.However,theremaybenewerwirelesstechnologiesused
inthisphonethathavenotbeentestedforusewithhearingaids.
Hearingaiddevicesmayalsobemeasuredforimmunitytointerferencenoisefromwirelessphones
andshouldhaveratingssimilartophones.Askyourhearinghealthcareprofessionalfortheratingof
yourhearingaid.Addtheratingofyourhearingaidandyourphonetodetermineprobableusability:
n Anycombinedratingequaltoorgreaterthansixoffersexcellentuse.
n Anycombinedratingequaltofiveisconsiderednormaluse.
n Anycombinedratingequaltofourisconsideredusable.
Thus,ifyoupairanM3hearingaidwithanM3phone,youwillhaveacombinedratingofsixfor
“excellentuse.”ThisissynonymousforTratings.
Itisfurthersuggestedyouexperimentwithmultiplephones(eventhosenotlabeledM3/T3orM4/T4)
whileinthestoretofindtheonethatworksbestwithyourhearingaiddevice.Shouldyouexperience
interferenceorfindthequalityofserviceunsatisfactoryafterpurchasingyourphone,promptlyreturn
ittothestore.Moreinformationabouthearingaidcompatibilitymaybefoundat:fcc.gov,fda.gov,
andaccesswireless.org.
ThisequipmentcomplieswiththehearingaidcompatibilitytechnicalrequirementsofSection20.19
oftherules.HACRatings:M4T4-2011.